Inevitable
by Diamond Kitten
Summary: He had once declared them inevitable. They can handle heartache and loss and sadness. Take all that away and you have real life. Can anyone survive real life?


Back when St Jude's ties still constricted his throat and before his bank account had skyrocketed in the face of death he had declared to her that they were inevitable. No matter what she said, no matter whom she pushed in front of him and no matter how many times her eyes squinted in displeasure he had stayed true in his belief that they would always be drawn back to each other.

It was years before he thought that he may have been wrong. Years before he was willing to consider the idea that his youthful arrogance combined with his love for her had led to a naive and somewhat childishly romanticised idea of their hold over each other.

Everything about their relationship was dramatic, passionate and could have been cribbed from the old movies she so adored. From its inception their pairing was dynamite. Their struggles to come together were trying and angst-ridden. When they committed, their edge was held with plenty of sexual games to balance the gentle sweetness that they would deny to the death and volatile arguments to counter the more ordinary aspects of loved-up coupledom.

The ending of their relationship didn't match the beginning. It wouldn't have fit in her movie at all. She likely would have demanded a re-write.

His desire to step out from under his father's shadow had become an obsession. He wanted to be bigger and better than Bart had been and he wanted to do it faster than he had. It started with The Empire, then two other hotels in the city. An apartment block was soon followed and he was in a meeting to close a deal on a restaurant when he realised he hadn't even spoken to Blair in five days, hadn't sat down for a meal with her in two weeks and hadn't made love to her in almost a month.

He wasn't the only one to have become work obsessed. At the start of the year Blair had landed an internship at a leading publishing house. By June the internship had become a full time job and the opportunity to begin to build a real career for herself. The hours were long but she loved it and the months began to fly by. Earning praise from Mr. Phillip Dollman, a notoriously hard man to please and a Legend in his field would make her smile for hours on end.

There had been attempts at contact, voicemails left to each other apologizing for missing the others call again and text messages that were hastily typed out. When he had finally been able to leave work behind for the night and would crawl into the bed they shared Blair would long be asleep, and wouldn't stir as he tugged some duvet from her grasp. She would be awake and out of the door before his alarm had begun to chime.

It seemed Blair had been struck by the same thoughts as him so when he arrived home she had been sat drinking wine, typing out emails and apparently happy to wait up for him.

Something had changed, some imperceptible shift had occurred. It wasn't immediately obvious as they jumped into a big hug and buried their faces into the others neck. There had been some uncomfortable silences as they sat to dinner together and she enquired about work, asking him about a club she thought he was buying. The deal she mentioned had fallen apart in late August but he didn't know whether she just hadn't remembered or if he had forgotten to tell her. Instead he told her about the restaurant he had been devoting his energies to and asked her about work.

He asked her about Julie, whom he thought was the one who had taken Blair under her wing. Apparently it was Maria who had helped Blair, Julie had been the one Blair was been interning with and ultimately competing with for employment. She hadn't been above dirty tactics and spread a rumour about Blair and some guy in the office. He tried to cover the fact that the name Maria didn't ring any kind of bell with him but from the look he received Blair had noted how clueless he was about a woman she had come to hold in some regard.

An hour later they fell into bed, he devoured her secure in the knowledge that no matter how much they drifted this was where they were always one. Work may take up their time in the outside world but in the bedroom they were on the same page. He could make he come undone with whispered words, make her body sing with a few caresses. He never felt as alive as he did in those moments.

But afterwards, when their breathing evened out and sleep hesitated in taking them they lay there quietly and he desperately racked his brain for something to say. Wondering why this silence was deafening he looked at her and as soon as their eyes met he shuddered. Their thoughts had lined up perfectly and it wasn't pretty.

"I love you." He said into the quiet. Tears glazed Blair's eyes as she nodded.

"Me too."

"Always."

There was no fight. No screaming. Four days later when she packed her bags he didn't try and stop her, didn't beg her to reconsider and she didn't want him to. Their foreheads pressed together and a quick kiss on the lips before she was gone.

Inevitable in his mind. But perhaps inconceivable in the real world. Perhaps.

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Thank you for reading. Let me know if it's worth continuing. Review?


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